Social Networking for Joomla!

User Guide
JomSocial 1.5.x • Updated on 1st October, 2009
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CONTENTS
System Requirements//03
Installation Guide//04
Alternative Install method & Upgrade
from JomSocial 1.2.x//05
Post installation & Applications//06
Facebook Connect//07
Video FAQ//12
Support Scope//13
3 System Requirements

PHP Version
JomSocial runs strictly on PHP5 and above.

PHP memory requirement

JomSocial is developed to run adequately with 16mb mem-
ory allocated to PHP. In fact, we configure our development
environment to test JomSocial against this 16Mb PHP mem-
ory limit.

Having said that, any application will run well with more
memory. We recommend that you allocate at least 64Mb
of memory to php. The following tasks will consume a lot of
memory:

Thank you for purchasing JomSocial, * resizing uploaded user avatar

* resizing any photos uploaded by user
the ultimate social networking * video conversion
component for Joomla!
Required PHP Extension
* GD library (at least v1.8 with libjpeg)
To get started, we will brief you on the basic requirements to get Jom- * Curl library
Social up and running smoothly on your Joomla! powered website.
* FFMPEG (for video capability)
JomSocial of course, requires a running Joomla! 1.5.x and above. * FLVTools s (for flv video capability)

MySQL
MySQL 4.1 or above is required. JomSocial is not tested on a system
with MySQL 4.0 or lower.
4 Installation Guide
DOWNLOAD
To download or re-download your licensed copy of the JomSocial
package, please go to http://www.jomsocial.com/component/pur-
chase/getfile.html
After you have finished downloading the package, you will get a zip
file named com_community_pro_unzip_{version}_first.zip.
Please unzip this file using your preferred software, and you will re-
trieve a few files namely:
Proceed to the next page for more information on getting JomSocial
installed on your Joomla! website.
INSTALLATION
1. Please login to your Joomla! Administration area.
2. Go to Help > System Info > Directory Permission and ensure that
all directories listed there are writable by Joomla.
3. Proceed to Extensions > Install / Uninstall.
4. At Upload Package File, browse and install
(1.5.237 as an example):
5. You will be greeted with:
JomSocial is a social networking component for Joomla!
Thank you for choosing JomSocial, please click on the following button to
complete your installation.
6. Press ‘Complete Your Installation’
7. JomSocial will do a system checkup to see whether your PHP & server con-
figurations are compatible with JomSocial.
8. Press Install. JomSocial will then use an advanced installation procedure to
avoid any server-side php maximum execution time errors. Once the progress
bar reaches 100%, you will be greeted with:
10. Press next, and you are done! Congratulations!
11. JomSocial menu item will be automatically created at your Joomla! Main
Menu.
5 Installation & Upgrade Guide

ALTERNATIVE INSTALL METHOD UPGRADE PROCEDURE

1. Go to Extensions > Install / Uninstall > Components and Uninstall JomSocial.

2. Ensure that these directories/files are completely deleted.

/administrator/components/com_community
/components/com_community

3. Proceed to installing JomSocial 1.5.x.

***If you encouter such Warning: require_once(/home/xxxx/public_html/plu-
gins/system/pc_includes/template.php) error, most likely your Azrul System is
not installed properly. Upload azrul.zip obtained from com_community_pro_
{version}.zip to /plugins/system and extract it there.

4. JomSocial Applications can be installed without uninstalling them first due to

1. Unzip com_community_pro_unzip_first_{version}.zip, locate
com_community_pro_{version}.zip, and then unzip it into a new
folder on your desktop.
2. Rename that new folder to jomsocial (or any names that you pre-
fer).
3. Upload it to your Joomla /tmp directory.
4. Go to Joomla Install/Uninstall area
5. At Install from Directory, after the /tmp link, add jomsocial. This
means, after the link given in the box (which ends with /tmp), add /
jomsocial after it.
Example, from:
/var/www/web1/web/tmp
to : /var/www/web1/web/tmp/jomsocial
6. Then click install.
our new ‘upgrade’ method. This is experimental and do not apply to Modules.
Please note: If you are upgrading from JomSocial 1.2.x to JomSocial 1.5.x,
JomSocial 1.5.x will not recognize any old template customizations and core
hacks that were previously done by the user.
This is due to JomSocial 1.5.x’s new template structure - which has been re-
designed for the new Featured User/Video/Gallery, Photo Tagging, Easy Share,
Group Photos & Videos, and numerous other adjustments.
However rest assured that these information will not be deleted after any Jom-
Social un-installation.
a. JomSocial Users and user data b. Photos
c. Groups, and discussions d. Activity stream
In short, any information that is retrieved from database will not be deleted. :)
However as a precaution, always do a backup prior to Uninstalling JomSocial.
6 Post Installation & Applications
POST-INSTALLATION
Before the action starts, you will need to configure JomSocial to your
preference first.
To do so, head over to Components > JomSocial > Configurations.
Subsequently, please head over to our Documentation site:
http://www.jomsocial.com/docs.html
for Post-Installation instructions.
The Documentation site will cover ‘Setting up Scheduled Task’, ‘In-
stalling Applications’, ‘Installing Modules’, and ‘Renaming Applica-
tions / Plugins’.
Important: Do not forget to submit your Video Player License at
the ‘Media’ tab and also configure ‘Facebook Connect’ feature. A
thorough guide on Facebook Connect feature is laid in the next few
pages.
APPLICATIONS / JOMSOCIAL PLUGINS
So what is a JomSocial application? It is essentially a Joomla plugin which is
adapted for JomSocial usage. Thus it is installable via the regular Joomla In-
staller area. By default, plg_wall and plg_deleteuser are installed together with
JomSocial. It can be either one of these types:
a. JomSocial standalone applications (Community plugin)
b. JomSocial Component Integrator application (Community plugin)
c. Joomla-based plugins for JomSocial (Non-Community plugin)
JomSocial standalone applications
These applications can run on their own without the need of any third-party
components. An example of these applications is plg_friendslocation and plg_
feeds.
JomSocial Component Integrator applications
In order to better integrate JomSocial with other Joomla components, we need
to install applications which serve as a bridge between JomSocial and the other
component. Examples are plg_jomcomment, plg_myblog, plg_eventlist, plg_
kunena. The actual components are not supplied with JomSocial package.
Read: http://www.jomsocial.com/docs/Installing_Applications
7 Facebook Connect

Facebook Connect is a new feature that allows your users to login via
facebook, thus bypassing the regular JomSocial registration form/in- 1. Browse and Login to Facebook Developer area, http://www.facebook.com/
terface. This makes it quick & easy for your new community members developers/. You are required to have a Facebook account.
to register & sign-in to your JomSocial-powered community.
8 Facebook Connect

2. We then create a Facebook Application.

Give your application a name, and select Agree to the Facebook Plat-
form Terms of Service.

3. Copy your API Key and Secret. You will need to submit this infor-
mation inside JomSocial Configuration.

Describe your application, change your icon and logo if you already
have them. Remember, your API Key and Secret should not be given
to anyone else.
9 Facebook Connect

4. Submit your Contact details.

Help, Privacy & Term of Service are optional.

5. Then browse to the Authentication Tab.

At Authentication Settings, select both Users and Facebook Pages.

Submit your URL at the Authentication Callback URLs.
10 Facebook Connect

6. All fields under Facebook Connect Settings must use an absolute

URL EXCEPT Base Domain.

For Base Domain, just submit your domain (without http://www).

Now you are done. Save all your changes.

7. Now, go to your JomSocial Configuration, and then Facebook

Connect settings.

Submit your API Key and Application Secret.

8. Locate plg_jomsocialconnect.zip, Install and Enable it.

JomSocial Facebook Connect Namespace is required to embed the

necessary namespace codes in the HTML element.

You are now done!

11 Facebook Connect

ADDITIONAL INFO
1. Not getting correct user emails from Facebook (generate random emails)

This is caused by a restriction inside the Facebook API. Facebook, for security and privacy reasons, will
not allow third-party application developers from fetching user email addresses from its database. Thus,
JomSocial (and all other facebook-connect components, for that matter) will generate a random email for
that user. There is no way for us to know user email addresses (even the one that they submitted via the
facebook connect authentication popup), because it is locked & secured.

2. Logging-In via Facebook connect shows user’s full name.

This is also a restriction by Facebook. Facebook, as you may know, has no “usernames.” Thus, anyone that
logged in through Facebook will have to readily accept that his/her username is his FULL NAME, and vice
versa.

3. Some user information is not properly retrieved from Facebook.

Depending on each user’s Privacy Settings in Facebook, some of his information might not be properly
imported into JomSocial because it has been restricted.

Reminder: DO NOT link an admin account with a Facebook account. All authentication will be done by
Facebook, thus while a linked Admin is able to login at frontend, he will not be able to login at /adminis-
trator because the login form there has no facebook authentication feature and password is now held by
Facebook.
12 Video Information
How to post Videos?
1. You can link them from popular video providers
2. You can upload from local machine.
3. Tried posting a youtube link in your profile wall? ;)
What happens to the video files I uploaded
It will remain untouched before scheduled task / cron runs. Then FFmpeg
will convert all pending videos into flv format. After that, the videos are
ready and will get listed.
Why is the video still in pending status after so long?
1. If you are using shared hosting service, most probably your hosting
company don’t have FFmpeg installed.
2. Probably you did not enter FFmpeg path correctly.
3. Schedule task/Cron is not running. Read how to setup cron.
http://www.jomsocial.com/docs/Cron_Setup
4. Incorrect folder permissions. FFmpeg couldn’t create new videos or
thumbnails as result. Please turn on the Joomla FTP layer.
http://www.jomsocial.com/webforum/viewtopic.
php?f=13&t=6085&start=40#p39214
Can I skip FFmpeg by uploading FLV format videos?
Sorry, the answer is no for the sake of video size and quality consistency.
My video thumbnails are not showing up
1. Make sure you’re running on the latest version of Jomsocial.
2. Make sure the “Videos Root Folder” in the configuration matches the
location of the videos
Tips: Don’t put the full path. Just the folder name. e.g. videos
How do I administrate videos?
Logged in as admin, you will be able to edit/delete videos at the front-end.
Same goes to feature and un-feature videos and also videos in groups.
About FFmpeg
You need to specify the path to FFmpeg in backend. Unless you don’t want
your users to upload video files, which save server disk space. Then you can
disable videos file upload from backend.
About FLVTool2
This is entirely optional. If FLVTool2 path is detected, it’ll add metadata to the
flv file during schedule task. The purpose of doing so is purely for pseudo vid-
eo streaming. Google on this if you have more questions.
About the “Unlicensed Copy” Logo
We have recently just updated our new downloads area which is accessible at
http://www.jomsocial.com/download.html. All you need to do is to provide
your email address and order reference. Once logged in, you should be able to
view all your licenses assigned to you.
You are required to enter your domain name for the license in order to gener-
ate the video keys. Enter the license key in Jomsocial’s backend configuration.
Tips: Under tab “Media”, the field on right column, “Video Player License
Key”.
I’ve got Operation Aborted issue!
Watching video in IE7 will produce error. Don’t panic. Try this hack.
http://www.jomsocial.com/webforum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6375&p=35687
About flowplayer customization
If you know what you are doing, you can tweak flowplayer with this file:
JOOMLA\components\com_community\templates\default\videos.flowplayer.
php
13 Support Scope

We support For all valid license holders, we provide web-based support for 12-months from the
date of purchase. You will also be entitled to 12-month free update. Should you re-
• Installation issues quire phone or priority support (for guaranteed 12-24 hours response time), please
• Basic configuration contact us with your requirements.
• How-to usage questions
1. Product documentation wiki & FAQ
This documentation will be updated frequently and will contain all the latest and
We do not support most common support issues. 90% of the time, you should be able to resolve any
issue through our wiki. You can visit the wiki by visiting
• Template design and customization
http://www.jomsocial.com/docs
• Anything that require modification to the
core code, such as adding new customized
2. Support forum
feature.
If you have a more specific questions, you can post them in our support forum. Your
• modified JomSocial code
questions might have been asked before, so, please do a quick search before you
• server migration
post any new topic.
• 3rd party integration
• any beta or trial release
Our support team will try to attend support queries within 48 hours, within normal
• installation on localhost
working hours. Please observe that we are at GMT+8. You can access the forum by
• Non JomSocial-related issues
visiting http://www.jomsocial.com/webforum
Assistance for the items above is available through
This forum uses the same credentials as JomSocial.com main site. If you have an ac-
our Professional Services or a Consulting engage-
count with JomSocial.com please use the same username and password to access
ment.
this forum. It helps us identify between paid and unpaid user and help us prioritize
your queries.

3. Email
Email is used primarily for exchanging confidential information. Email support will
only be entertained after you have posted your queries in our forum and that we
requested your confidential site details to be passed to us. Should you require
phone or priority support (for guaranteed 12-24 hours response time), it is avail-
able through our Professional Services or a Consulting engagement. Please contact
us with your requirements. Contact us support@azrul.com.